„I had this fight with the designers at the time.” Skyrim’s producer personally balanced one of the biggest RPG hits just before release

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2011 saw the launch of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which became a major success. But there’s speculation about whether this beloved RPG would have achieved such acclaim without Jeff Gardiner’s input during the late-stage enhancements prior to its release.

During an interview with PC Gamer, a long-time employee from Bethesda shared that, just weeks before the release of Skyrim, there was a disagreement between the producer and the rest of the team about the game’s overall balance. As Gardiner explained, the designers leaned excessively on “data and simulation,” which didn’t accurately mirror the actions players typically took in the game.

At one point, I found myself in disagreement with our design team. They advocated for making decisions based on data and simulations. Specifically, they would conduct AI simulations where a non-player character (NPC) and a monster would engage in combat, and if the NPC won more than 50% of the time in over 10 simulations, they deemed it balanced. However, I argued that the AI has limited actions, and it doesn’t always follow the same pattern as human players who can adapt and learn from their mistakes.

In contrast, the AI’s capabilities were restricted solely to offensive actions. Gardiner acknowledged a similar scenario in the instance of Oblivion.

In Oblivion, while battling Clannfear creatures, players often found themselves in situations called “stun locks.” This can be extremely annoying for gamers as both characters become immobilized during this time. However, interestingly, when the AI was stuck in a stun lock, it would behave differently than the player, leading to an unexpected outcome.

In response, Gardiner chose to take action himself and spent a fortnight meticulously adjusting the balance of combat within the game, “Skyrim”.

He explained that he experimented with various character types in the game, making adjustments to creatures, weapons, and other elements. Just before release, he devoted about two weeks to fine-tuning these aspects, expressing his hope that it would turn out well.

The developer admitted that his past experience and the esteem he gained from the designers allowed him to perform those actions. Yet, in his view, not every producer possesses the ability to act in such a manner.

There are many producers out there who don’t and possibly even more who shouldn’t, but let me clarify that I’m not passing judgment on my fellow producers. As someone who has spent years doing creative work at a high level, I found myself in a position where significant decisions were mine to make.

Eventually, the game titled “Skyrim” garnered an average rating of 96 out of 100 on Metacritic, with players giving it a score of 8.6/10. On Steam, it showcases an impressive 94% positive feedback from its users.

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2025-02-24 15:32